Wild Thing recently did one of my favorite apple activities at preschool -- an apple tasting. They tasted red, yellow and green apples and picked their favorite. By far, he prefers green apples (Granny Smith), which are his father's favorite too. As he shared about the activity I got inspired to do another tasting activity with apples giving him 5 slices with different toppings. Rather than an "Invitation to Play," I'm calling it an "Invitation to Taste," and it will be waiting for him when he wakes from his nap soon. I suspect he will be hesitant to taste. On the other hand, I know Caterpillar will want to dive right in! Our Tot School approach has involved exploring each letter through the five senses, so this tasting activity fits well with our current learning experiences at home.

Finally, for the first time ever, I'm sharing printables on my site -- yikes!! During our Tot School Letter A week, we also did an A is for Apple Color by Number sheet that a friend of mine made through inspiration from Romero Britto's graphic alphabet art, which we shared as part of Kids Get Arty earlier this year. Wild Thing and Caterpillar have loved doing these as we explore each letter. Right now, we've done A through D. I'm excited to share A with you now as well as a simple form to use for exploring an apple through all five senses with your child. I've done this with various classes during after-school programs in the past, and students always really love it. (Sound is the really fun ones as children get quiet and intensely hold apples up to their ears or knock on their apples. Too funny!)